1:39pm: There’s concern that DeSclafani may require season-ending surgical procedure, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey tells Nightengale and others.
1:00pm: Twins nearer Jhoan Duran, lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar, and rotation hopeful Anthony DeSclafani will open the season on the 15-day injured listing, tweets Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Duran is coping with a “average” indirect pressure, whereas Thielbar will head to the IL with a strained hamstring. DeSclafani has a extra ominous forearm pressure and is slated to satisfy with Dr. Keith Meister for additional analysis.
Past that trio of surefire huge leaguers, the Twins will even see prospect Matt Canterino and roster hopeful Zack Weiss begin on the injured listing, tweets Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Canterino, lengthy one of many group’s most promising arms, will probably be on the Triple-A injured listing after struggling a subscapular pressure in his shoulder. Weiss, a waiver declare out of the Purple Sox group, has been rehabbing a teres main pressure and will probably be on the main league injured listing.
Dropping Duran even for a brief spell is painful for the Twins, given the flamethrower’s emergence as considered one of MLB’s premier relievers. Since making his huge league debut on Opening Day 2022, Duran has pitched 130 innings of two.15 ERA ball with 35 saves, 19 holds, a 33.2 p.c strikeout fee, a 7.9 p.c stroll fee and a large 63.4 p.c ground-ball fee.
He averaged a daft 101.8 mph on his heater final season and 98.4 mph along with his splitter/sinker hybrid (“splinker”). The excellent news for the Twins is {that a} average pressure shouldn’t end in excessively prolonged absence, however even Grade 1 strains have been recognized to sideline gamers for upwards of a month. The group hasn’t formally introduced a timetable for Duran’s anticipated return simply but.
With Duran sidelined, it’ll doubtless fall to Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart to deal with save conditions early within the season. Jax has turn into considered one of Duran’s high setup males in recent times and gives an above-average strikeout fee and powerful command of a slider-heavy arsenal. Stewart returned from a yearslong MLB absence and a number of arm surgical procedures brandishing an upper-90s cutter that helped him punch out almost 36 p.c of his opponents whereas pitching to a 0.65 ERA in 27 2/3 innings for the Twins final saeson.
The 37-year-old Thielbar has flown underneath the radar since returning to affiliated ball following a five-year absence in 2020, however he’s quietly been one of many group’s most vital relievers in that point. Over the previous 4 seasons, the Minnesota native has given his hometown membership 174 innings of three.21 ERA ball, piling up 45 holds whereas punching out 30.2 p.c of his opponents towards a 7.4 p.c stroll fee.
He struggled towards right-handers final season, yielding a .258/.319/.621 batting line, however Thielbar didn’t have evident struggles towards righties from 2020-22. As with Duran, they’ll hope for a comparatively temporary absence, however the group hasn’t given any specifics on how lengthy he’s anticipated to overlook simply but.
Phrase of DeSclafani’s damage is essentially the most regarding of the three. Acquired from the Mariners (who’d picked him up from the Giants beforehand) as a part of the commerce sending Jorge Polanco to Seattle, DeSclafani had been within the operating to open the season because the Twins’ fifth starter. He was slowed early in camp by some discomfort and is now headed for analysis with one of many sport’s extra notable surgeons.
DeSclafani has struggled to remain wholesome all through his profession. He missed your complete 2017 season with a UCL sprain that by no means required surgical procedure, pitched a largely wholesome yr in 2018 and loved probably the greatest seasons of his profession with the Reds in 2019. A teres main pressure hobbled him in 2020 and restricted him to 33 2/3 innings of seven.22 ERA ball, nevertheless. DeSclafani bounced again with a bit 2021 season in San Francisco, working 167 2/3 frames of three.17 ERA ball over a largely full slate of 31 begins.
DeSclafani re-signed in San Francisco on a three-year, $36M deal that hasn’t in any respect gone in response to plan. An ankle damage that finally required surgical procedure restricted him to 19 frames in 2022. Shoulder fatigue and a pair of flexor strains capped him at 99 2/3 frames in 2023. He’ll now be slowed to start the 2024 season, although a timeline gained’t be recognized till that appointment with Dr. Meister has taken place.
The Twins are solely the hook for $4M of DeSclafani’s $12M wage. The Giants despatched $6M to the Mariners of their unique commerce involving DeSclafani, and the M’s despatched that plus one other $2M to Minnesota within the Polanco swap. With DeSclafani headed to the injured listing, right-hander Louie Varland ought to have the fifth spot within the rotation all however locked up.
He’ll observe Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Chris Paddack and Bailey Ober in what ought to be a strong Twins employees if everybody can stay wholesome. Nonetheless, the Twins will undoubtedly really feel the losses of Sonny Grey and Kenta Maeda, notably now with their high depth choice shelved. Within the occasion of extra pitching accidents, Minnesota would doubtless flip to considered one of Simeon Woods Richardson, Brent Headrick or yet-to-debut high prospect David Festa.
As for the others, Canterino continues to be working his means again from 2022 Tommy John surgical procedure. Accidents have usually slowed him since being chosen within the second spherical of the 2019 draft. Between shaky well being and the scrapped 2020 minor league season, he’s nonetheless pitched solely 85 skilled innings. They’ve been glorious — 1.48 ERA, 39.2 p.c strikeout fee, 10.5 p.c stroll fee — however his persistent damage troubles have undercut his appreciable upside.
As for Weiss, he’s pitched simply 27 1/3 MLB frames however has a historical past of sturdy strikeout totals within the minors. He could possibly be a bullpen choice for the Twins sooner or later, however for now, he’ll gather MLB service and pay whereas rehabbing. For a 32-year-old with simply 91 days of huge league service up to now in his profession, that’s not insignificant.
It appears unlikely that the Twins will go exterior the group to spice up their depth — a minimum of in time period of serious wage additions. Proprietor Joe Pohlad all however declared his group out on high names like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery earlier in camp when stating that his group was not going to “exit and spend $30M on a participant proper now.” The Twins shocked baseball with a pair of Carlos Correa signings that got here collectively underneath comparable circumstances, nevertheless it doesn’t appear there’s one other splash of that magnitude up their sleeves.
Minnesota was reportedly concerned about Michael Lorenzen earlier within the offseason, so it’s attainable they may nonetheless circle again on that entrance. Extra doubtless is that they’ll simply trip issues out with inner choices, maybe including a veteran on a minor league deal. A very prolonged absence for DeSclafani may create some additional urgency, so the outcomes of his analysis are value monitoring with an in depth eye for Twins followers.
